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June 4, 2008

Schadenfreude 49 (A Continuing Series)

All the hype and the hoopla over Joba Chamberlain's first major league start made for a World Series atmosphere at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night - which was in contrast to the reality that it was nothing more than what amounted to a spring training exercise.

Sixty-two pitches, barely half of which were strikes, and Joba was gone after just 2-1/3 innings. Even worse, the effort meant extra innings from the soft underbelly of the Joba-less Yankee bullpen - which guaranteed doom.

But get used to it. This is what the Great Joba Experiment is all about and what the game has come to: A minimum of pitches for the starting pitcher and a maximum of innings for the bullpen. ...

18 comments:

I wont criticize the move itself but the way it has been done must rank as one of the really really bad ones.I wish I knew someone who follows the Braves to ask how Smoltz did it , but I am sure it was not a mid-season move . Either Cashman has lost it, or is being overruled. Whatever, the LFYs are so caught up in that guy that they dont seem to know that they are falling out of this very quickly.

Wasn't this predictable, with all the ridiculous hype and "Jaba Rules?" He's a talented young pitcher, but so was Bill Pulsipher. Projecting a kid into an ace is so horribly unfair. As I remember it, even with all the optimism over Clemens in '84, the fans and media tool a "wait and see" attitude...when he needed surgery in '85, the reaction seemed to be.."See? Don't get your hopes up."

Is it normal that I prefer to watch MFY lose more than I like to watch the Sox win? Don't get me wrong, my mood almost directly hinges upon the Sox game but the warmth of satisfaction in my soul when MFY lose is unmatched.

On one hand, I think the Yankees are no longer the primary Sox competition in the East. On the other, the "showdowns" with the Rays just don't have the same sense of urgency and drama. I confess that I also spend way too much time rooting for Yankee losses, enjoying their announcers'; distress, and internally gloating about the 2008 starting wins amassed by Kennedy, Hughes, and Joba---you know, the new Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz---a nice, round, eloquent "0."

If you go watch the highlights, you'll notice that Joba has to contain himself from celebrating at various times. He yells into his glove (I guess so no one sees it), he starts a fist pump and then stops it after a strikeout, and so forth.

I can't make up my mind about Sterling and his female cohort. His home-run calls and "THEEEE..." mannerisms, as well as his "The Yankees Win!" screams are annoying to a Sox fan, but at least have personality and make him stand out from the hoards of hacks out there. His cheerleading would never be tolerated in Beantown, of course...

Just you wait! It's silly to make predictions about baseball, but here's one: those six games against the Rays in September are going to have plenty of urgency and drama. It's early blah blah blah, but the Sox and the Rays just might be the two best teams in the AL - I'm really sincerely hoping for a fantastic race down the stretch.

His home-run calls and "THEEEE..." mannerisms, as well as his "The Yankees Win!" screams are annoying to a Sox fan, but at least have personality and make him stand out from the hoards of hacks out there.

Having a set of catch phrases that you bring out on cue night after night after night does not rescue one from being a hack.

In that case, Berman's "backbackbackbackbackbackbackback" makes him stand out from the hoards of hacks. ... And that's not true. He's practically the very definition of a hack.

If Sterling had only one or two, that would be okay. But he's got like a dozen, at least, plus he calls run-scoring plays the exact same way all the time -- which is sort of a catch phrase in itself.

Sterling's excess makes me smile sometimes, that's all---as opposed to the Gary Thornes of the world, who never make me do anything but want to vomit. But Sterling's a hack. Not as big a hack as Chris Berman, but then, who is?

I can't make up my mind about Sterling and his female cohort. His home-run calls and "THEEEE..." mannerisms, as well as his "The Yankees Win!" screams are annoying to a Sox fan, but at least have personality and make him stand out from the hoards of hacks out there. His cheerleading would never be tolerated in Beantown, of course...

I think if there is one thing I do like about him is he gives credit where its due, if it involved the other team. It's hilarious how he'll go along in the game and say about a player, "This guy is a really good hitter. I don't have his numbers or anything, but he's good. And what's the pitch count on Mussina, anyways? I don't have that either."

To say "I prefer to watch MFY lose more than I like to watch the Sox win" and "the warmth of satisfaction in my soul when MFY lose is unmatched" (even by a Red Sox win) could play into the stereotype MFY fans have of Red Sox fans -- mainly that they are obsessed with the New York nine.

What's that saying? "I'm a fan of two teams, the Red Sox and whoever..."

Yes, but in that equation, the Red Sox are mentioned first. Your comment seemed to indicate that the "whoever is playing the Yankees" would be ahead of the Red Sox.

(Which is fine, by the way. You are the kind of fan you are. We all are. It can't be helped.)